Chapter 19: Undercurrents surge before the draft, the battle for Chen Hao begins!
The Portland Trail Blazers became the lucky ones in this draft, they successfully drew the No. 1 pick!

This result made the Trail Blazers' owner and general manager very excited.

Even their fans started celebrating!

Because there have been reports that the Trail Blazers have a strong interest in Oden.

Moreover, their current lineup lacks a pure inside player, and in this era, the league still adheres to the belief that "whoever controls the inside player controls the world."

As a traditional center, Oden is very proficient in all center skills and is even hailed as the strongest player after James.

Therefore, there is a high chance that Oden will be the No. 1 pick.

The second pick was drawn by the Seattle SuperSonics, and the third pick was drawn by the Hawks.

Chen Hao is actually quite clear about this year's draft.

After all, this year Yi Jianlian was running for the election, so Chen Hao certainly wouldn't forget it.

And Yi Jianlian was eventually selected by the Bucks with the sixth pick, becoming another Chinese player to enter the NBA with a high draft pick after Yao Ming.

At that time, fans all over the country had high hopes for Al-Suwaidi.

However, due to injuries, Al-Farouq Aminu's journey in the NBA was quite tortuous and ultimately failed to meet the fans' expectations.

This is indeed a very regrettable thing for many Dragon Country fans.

But for Chen Hao now, none of this matters anymore.

Because he had already entered the game and after a series of tryouts, his draft stock had been rising.

As of now, authoritative draft websites even believe that Chen Hao will be selected in the top ten.

Because according to media reports, almost all teams that have tried out Chen Hao gave Chen Hao full marks.

Everyone thinks that Chen Hao has excellent physical fitness and unlimited potential.

In fact, after the draft picks were determined, many general managers of NBA teams began to act according to their ideas.

Especially the Celtics' general manager Ainge, he is very interested in Chen Hao.

Especially after trying out Chen Hao, he was extremely shocked by Chen Hao's abnormal physical fitness and amazing defensive talent.

He was thinking that once the Celtics got Chen Hao, their defensive capabilities would definitely be directly improved to a higher level.

In fact, after the end of this season, Celtics general manager Ainge had already been planning a shocking deal.

Because the Celtics' lineup is really bad.

This season's record is at the bottom. I thought I could get the No. 1 pick, but I only got the fifth pick.

This made Angie very dissatisfied!
So he has set his sights on the free market, and a crazy idea has even formed in his mind!

But after watching the NCAA championship final, Chen Hao's performance shocked him!
In this final, it can even be said that Chen Hao defeated the University of Florida alone!
Whether in offense or defense, Chen Hao's performance was impeccable!

In this situation, Chen Hao's amazing strength is even more prominent!
So after learning that Pelinka became Chen Hao's agent, Ainge couldn't wait to invite Chen Hao to a tryout.

Although he had great interest in Chen Hao, Angie did not praise Chen Hao's outstanding performance in front of the media.

Instead, he did the opposite and kept praising Jeff Green for his outstanding talent.

This made many media outlets believe that the Celtics were eyeing Jeff Green, thus successfully avoiding the chance of being snatched away by others.

Of course!
In order to be able to select Chen Hao with 100% certainty, Angie still felt that this was not safe enough.

After all, there are four earlier picks ahead of the Celtics.

Once these four teams select Chen Hao in advance, Angie will really cry!
So he kept privately inquiring from the general managers of these teams, asking what kind of help they wanted.

He even tried to trade up to get a higher pick. But the general managers of other teams are not fools, and they will not tell Ainge clearly which player they will choose.

However, what makes Ainge feel a little relieved is that the general managers of these four teams have made it clear that they have no interest in Jeff Green.

That means the general managers of these four teams don’t know that Ainge’s real target is Chen Hao.

Of course, Angie also mentioned the name Chen Hao inadvertently during the chat.

He believes that Chen Hao is very suitable for the Trail Blazers and suggests that the Trail Blazers choose Chen Hao as the No. 1 pick.

In fact, this was still Ainge testing the Trail Blazers to see if they were interested in Chen Hao.

The Trail Blazers general manager's answer frightened Ainge:
"Chen Hao's talent and potential are indeed rare in history.

But the way he plays I think he's very prone to injury.

So he is not suitable for us!"

Angie said the same thing to the other three general managers, and the responses he got were almost the same.

Everyone thinks that Chen Hao has great talent and potential, but there are risks.

The only thing that bothered Ainge was what the Hawks general manager said:
“Although Chen Hao beat Al Horford, we will still choose Al Horford!

Don't worry! "

When Ainge heard this, he instantly knew that the Hawks general manager had seen through his thoughts.

And the implication was to threaten him that if he didn't make a deal with him, he would most likely intercept Chen Hao.

If Chen Hao was really intercepted, then Anji's wishful thinking would be ruined.

So Ainge had no choice but to bite the bullet and have a sincere conversation with the Hawks' general manager.

After some arguing, Ainge finally agreed to the Eagles' request:

The Hawks can help the Celtics select Chen Hao first and then trade him to the Celtics.

What the Celtics need to pay is a first-round pick and select Horford with the fifth pick. If Horford is selected by other teams, they will choose Conley or other players.

The Eagles' request actually seems like taking advantage of someone's misfortune.

After all, there is only one pick difference between them and the Celtics.

But now the Hawks want to take advantage of the situation, and they think there is no harm in selecting Chen Hao.

Although he does not quite match their lineup, at least Chen Hao's talent and potential are visible to the naked eye.

If he could get an extra first-round pick because of this, it would really be a windfall.

So of course the Eagles have nothing to fear, because they won't suffer any loss anyway.

After hearing the Eagles' request, Angie considered it again and again and decided to agree to the Eagles' request!

After all, the Celtics’ record is already at the bottom, so let’s take another gamble!

So the Celtics and the Hawks reached the deal directly.

Only the general managers of the two teams know about this agreement, and they must inform the league of the transaction agreement on the day of the draft.

Time flies, and the draft day is finally here!

　Please collect, read and vote for me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)